AMB Property Corp. and ProLogis have announced a definitive agreement to combine through a merger of equals, creating an industrial real estate firm with a total market capitalization estimated in excess of $24 billion, and gross assets owned and managed of approximately $46 billion.
The merger is subject to customary closing conditions, and is expected to close during the second quarter of 2011. Upon completion of the merger, the company will be named ProLogis and will trade under the ticker symbol PLD (NYSE).
The combined portfolio of the two companies encompasses approximately 600 million square feet of modern distribution facilities located in key gateway markets and logistics corridors in 22 countries. Both companies have substantial portfolios in North America, Western Europe and Japan. ProLogis is also established in the United Kingdom and Central and Eastern Europe, while AMB has a significant presence in China and Brazil.
The merger will advance a number of priorities already underway at each company, notes Walter Rakowich, CEO of ProLogis. “These priorities include improving efficiency and reducing costs by better aligning our portfolios through the reduction of non-core assets and the recycling of capital into higher growth opportunities; increasing asset utilization by stabilizing the operating portfolio; leasing up the development portfolio; and monetizing the land bank.”
Hamid Moghadam, AMB's CEO, and Rakowich will serve as co-CEOs through December 31, 2012, at which time Rakowich will retire, and Moghadam will become sole CEO of the combined company. Moghadam also will be chairman of the board of the combined company and will be primarily responsible for shaping the company's vision, strategy and private capital franchise. Rakowich will be principally responsible for operations, integration of the two platforms and optimizing the merger synergies. Until December 31, 2012, Rakowich also will serve as chairman of the board's executive committee.
Following the close of the transaction, the combined company's corporate headquarters will be located in San Francisco, and the combined company's operations headquarters will be located in Denver.
